Minato watched Takuno examine Kushina; his brow was tightly furrowed.
"Senpai, if—is there a way?" Minato originally wanted to say that if there was no way, they should give up.
But the words caught in his throat, and he couldn't speak them. At this moment, he desperately wished to pray to the heavens for a miracle.
"Kushina's body is severely depleted. After the Nine-Tails was sealed into her body, it became a part of her, and that part has now been forcibly severed. With my current power, I cannot replenish this depletion," Takuno said after sighing.
The only way to save Kushina now, short of sealing the Nine-Tails back inside her, would require Sage of Six Paths-level Yang Release Chakra.
Currently, no one in the Shinobi World possesses this power. Although the Sage of Six Paths in the Underworld masters this power, it is impossible for him to come here to save her.
"Is that so—" Minato's eyes dimmed.
"It's alright, Minato. Isn't this the outcome we already knew?" Kushina showed a strained smile, comforting Minato.
At this moment, the sounds of Naruto crying continued to reach their ears, as if he too felt sad because of the atmosphere.
"Perhaps, and I mean perhaps, it's not entirely hopeless," Takuno suddenly said.
Minato and Kushina were stunned instantly. They looked at Takuno with extremely shocked expressions, their eyes lighting up.
Although they had prepared themselves for death, if they could live, who would choose to die?
"Senpai! Please, save my wife!" Minato said solemnly.
"Don't rush. Hear me out first; this method might not succeed," Takuno said while looking at the Nine-Tails still struggling fiercely nearby.
"Kushina's body is currently depleted because the Nine-Tails left her body. If we can seal the Nine-Tails back inside her, perhaps we can fill this hole where life energy is constantly draining," Takuno said, his expression serious.
"And if this method fails—"
"Konoha will lose the power of the Nine-Tails," Minato stated in a deep voice. He understood that if a Tailed Beast is sealed inside a Jinchuriki, the Tailed Beast will die along with the Jinchuriki's death.
Takuno nodded and said, "That's the principle, and there's another problem."
Minato's eyes flickered as he pondered, unsure how to make a decision. After hearing Takuno's words, he looked at him again.
"Kushina has lost a lot of life energy, and she used the Adamantine Sealing Chains while severely depleted, so she likely cannot withstand the power of the entire Nine-Tails," Takuno concluded.
"Is that so?" Minato nodded, and then a smile slowly appeared on his face. At that moment, he had made his decision.
"Minato, are you going to—" Kushina's eyes widened. She understood something from his smile.
"Kushina, you must live well with Naruto," Minato said gently.
"Minato, no! You should just seal the Nine-Tails into Naruto's body and forget about me! Besides, this method might fail," Kushina rejected him excitedly.
"Fool. As long as there's a chance, it's all worth it," Minato said, smiling.
Takuno's expression was a bit strange. Sensing the atmosphere of life and death separation, he couldn't help but say, "Are you performing some kind of melodrama?"
Instantly, the expressions of both Minato and Kushina froze.
Minato gave a wry smile and said, "Senpai, could you please not ruin the mood?"
"Although I don't know what method you plan to use to split the Nine-Tails in half, it looks like it requires the sacrifice of your life?" Takuno inquired.
Minato sighed, then nodded.
If it were just saving a portion of Chakra, it wouldn't be difficult, but to safely divide the entire Nine-Tails into two parts, the only Sealing Jutsu he could think of was that one.
"I never said I couldn't do that," Takuno said helplessly.
Hearing this, Minato was stunned, and Kushina was also stunned.
"Is that true, Senpai!" Minato asked excitedly, his eyes wide.
"Of course, I wouldn't lie to you, Hokage-sama," Takuno glanced at him and said grumpily.
Minato heard the teasing tone, and thinking back to their previous conversation, he laughed awkwardly.
"However, I can't handle the Nine-Tails in its current state," Takuno looked up at the Nine-Tails, which was still struggling violently. It seemed to have heard their conversation and was roaring furiously at Takuno.
"I understand, Senpai. Next, leave it to me!" Minato's expression instantly turned serious. He stood up, his Fourth Hokage haori fluttering in the wind.
Takuno watched this scene. In reality, he had used the power of the Gelel Stone to create some Military Rations Pills.
Their effect was far better than ordinary Military Rations Pills. The life energy they supplied could greatly replenish physical energy and nourish mental energy, allowing for the extraction of more Chakra.
However, he didn't intend to give them to Minato.
Because what he wanted was for Minato to expend all his strength in subduing the Nine-Tails, forcing him to refine Chakra beyond his limits, making it impossible for him to refine Chakra again in the short term afterward.
Although Minato's condition looked very poor now, perhaps he still retained enough Chakra to perform a seal?
"Kushina, I need your help again!" Minato shouted at this moment.
Kushina took a deep breath, her eyes blazing with fury. The Adamantine Sealing Chains extending from her back tightened once more, pulling the entire Nine-Tails taut and rendering it immobile.
Minato gave up the idea of using the Flying Thunder God Jutsu. A sphere of light began to condense in his hand, and this light expanded at a visible speed.
"Is that a Super Big Ball Rasengan?" Takuno was secretly surprised when he saw this.
Even in this state, Minato could still use so much Chakra. Fortunately, Takuno had let him make a move.
It was natural that he could use the Super Big Ball Rasengan; it was simply an enlarged version of the standard Rasengan. It wasn't that Minato couldn't use it, but rather that he usually didn't need to.
Now, facing a massive enemy like the Nine-Tails, a sufficiently massive attack was naturally required.
The Nine-Tails seemed to sense a massive threat from the Super Big Ball Rasengan in Minato's hand and bared its fangs at him.
Unfortunately, none of this deterred Minato's resolve. Holding the Super Big Ball Rasengan, he took a deep breath, leaped up, and pressed the Super Big Ball Rasengan in his hand down just as he jumped above the Nine-Tails.
"Bang!!"
An intense beam of light illuminated the entire barrier formed by the Adamantine Sealing Chains, nearly blinding the Third Hokage and the Anbu members who had just arrived and were stopped outside the Adamantine Sealing Chains.
After a long time, the light dissipated.
Takuno saw the Nine-Tails weakly locked onto the ground by the Adamantine Sealing Chains. It was still struggling, but the intensity was much lighter than before.
Minato was now half-kneeling on the ground, breathing heavily. It took him a long time to stagger to his feet, looking as if he might collapse at any moment.
"Senpai, the rest is up to you!" Minato said, revealing a pale smile.
"Yes, leave it to me." Takuno nodded firmly at this moment, then paused and asked, "I can use Sealing Jutsu to seal half of the Nine-Tails back into Kushina's body, but what about the other half?"
Minato and Kushina froze instantly. They had been overwhelmed by surprise earlier and hadn't considered this aspect.
There seemed to be only one person present who could withstand the Nine-Tails' power, even if it was just half of it.
Their gaze fell upon the tiny body of Naruto.
If possible, they did not want their child to become the Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki, because even if he was the Hokage, he couldn't stop the Nine-Tails from going berserk inside the child.
Kushina understood the difficulties best. Every day, there was a chance of waking up from terrifying nightmares, and she had to be prepared to go berserk and hurt people at any moment.
She had even gone berserk and injured Minato once, and the memory was still fresh in her mind.
"Kushina, have faith in our child," Minato said.
Kushina remained silent for a moment, then nodded.
"Then I'll begin," Takuno said, walking up to the Nine-Tails. He watched its bloodshot eyes stare straight at him, which was quite frightening.
However, he wasn't someone who could be scared away. He placed one hand on the Nine-Tails' body, and lines of script continuously surged from his hand, appearing on the Nine-Tails.
It must be said that the Nine-Tails was indeed too large.
It took Takuno a considerable amount of time to wrap the entire Nine-Tails in the script.
Afterward, he formed hand seals.
"Sealing Jutsu: Chakra Separation Technique!"
Although the Nine-Tails appeared physical, all Tailed Beasts were essentially aggregations of Chakra, so his Sealing Jutsu was effective even on the physical Nine-Tails.
Of course, the prerequisite was that the Nine-Tails could not resist.
If it resisted, he wouldn't have been able to arrange all the script onto its body just now.
Under the shocked gazes of Minato, Kushina, and the Third Hokage, the Nine-Tails seemed to undergo a slight change.
"Damn human, I won't let you get away with this!"
At this moment, the Nine-Tails might have broken free from Obito's control, though that control was irrelevant to it, as it would have wanted to destroy Konoha even without Obito.
Now, it felt its body being forcibly divided by the script.
Normally, it would definitely be able to counter this power. Unfortunately, it had just been directly hit by Minato's Super Big Ball Rasengan and was under the continuous suppression of Kushina's Adamantine Sealing Chains, leaving it unable to use much power.
"Minato, bring Kushina and your child over!" Takuno shouted at this time.
Minato was already prepared. Holding Naruto and supporting Kushina, he came to Takuno's side.
Soon, Takuno pressed a portion of Chakra onto Kushina's stomach. The Nine-Tails was still there, but its entire being emanated a sense of weakness.
"Kushina, continue using the Adamantine Sealing Chains to restrain the Nine-Tails. I will start setting up the Sealing Jutsu for you," Takuno said, preparing to form hand seals.
"Senpai, wait a moment!" At this moment, Minato spoke up, stopping Takuno.
"Hmm? Time is urgent. Half of the Nine-Tails' power might go berserk inside Kushina's body. This is no time for chatting," Takuno said, frowning.
"It's alright. I can feel that half of the Nine-Tails is also exhausted inside me," Kushina said with a pale smile. She had actually diverted a portion of the Adamantine Sealing Chains to seal the half-Nine-Tails inside her body.
"Senpai, the Sealing Jutsu used to seal the Nine-Tails must not be casual. Next, I will teach you the Uzumaki Clan's strongest Sealing Jutsu!" Minato said at this time.
There was no choice. If they used an ordinary Sealing Jutsu, the Nine-Tails could go berserk at any moment, and both Kushina and his child would have to endure the agony of that rampage.
Furthermore, the Sealing Jutsu used for the Nine-Tails definitely couldn't be changed arbitrarily. Every change would face the risk of the Nine-Tails escaping, just like this time.
This was a risk they couldn't afford.
Therefore, if they were going to use one now, they had to use the best Sealing Jutsu.
Minato currently had absolutely no Chakra left to use a Sealing Jutsu. Therefore, the only person present who could quickly learn that Sealing Jutsu was Takuno, who was highly proficient in Sealing Jutsu.
Not even the Third Hokage could do it!
"Hmm? Alright then, I will learn it as quickly as possible," Takuno said, frowning, then nodding.
At the same time, he breathed a sigh of relief internally. He had finally waited for this moment.
The reason he had Minato exhaust all his remaining Chakra earlier was precisely to prevent him from setting up the Eight Trigrams Seal!
Minato quickly explained the Four Symbols Seal to Takuno.
As Takuno listened, he was also amazed. This Sealing Jutsu truly lived up to its name as the Uzumaki Clan's strongest Sealing Jutsu; its complexity far exceeded any sealing-focused Sealing Jutsu he currently knew.
After all, the purpose of the Chakra Separation Technique was not sealing, and even compared to the Four Symbols Seal, the Chakra Separation Technique was somewhat inferior.
"Have you learned it, Senpai?" Minato asked.
Takuno closed his eyes, contemplating every step of the Four Symbols Seal. What Minato verbally explained was not just the simple usage of the Four Symbols Seal, but also included all of his understanding of the Four Symbols Seal.
Given his level of Sealing Jutsu proficiency, combined with Minato's guidance, this Sealing Jutsu quickly took complete shape in his mind.
So he opened his eyes and nodded.
Minato smiled. As expected of the Senpai, he was the only one present capable of quickly learning such a difficult Four Symbols Seal.
"Good. Then the next thing I must tell Senpai is the Sealing Jutsu Senpai will use this time: the Eight Trigrams Seal. It is formed by combining two Four Symbols Seals!"
After hearing Minato's voice, Takuno chuckled internally. The Eight Trigrams Seal was his!